One of the available procedures in warfare is aerial bombing, that is, delivery of munitions from an overflying aircraft to impact on targets below. There are circumstances under which the object to be accomplished is best served by the use of a plurality of small submunitions, or bomblets, rather than a single large bomb, and for this purpose the technique of cluster bombing has been developed.
In this technique an elongated dispensing container is carried by the aircraft, being releasably suspended beneath a wing of the craft. The container has a closed front end, which may include a time fuse or proximity sensor, and is provided with a tail assembly having deployable and sometimes cantable rearward fins, so arranged that when the container is released it is initially directed aerodynamically to move along a path generally parallel to that of the launching aircraft itself, and is later caused aerodynamically to spin about its axis.
The container is intended to accommodate various predetermined submunition loads inserted through the open rear end of the container, which is then closed with a bulkhead and which then receives the tail assembly. The location of the center of gravity of the loaded container varies with load and load distribution. The container is launched with its longitudinal axis aligned with the forward movement of the aircraft, and variation in the axial location of the center of gravity influences the direction of movement of the container in a vertical plane after release, and might even cause the container to move upward toward the launching aircraft under some adverse circumstances. Accordingly, it has been the practice to secure within the container, between the closed front end and the load, ballast means weighted in accordance with the known weight distribution of each intended load, for bringing the overall center of gravity of the loaded container to a predetermined desired location along the axis.
Another characteristic of the containers is that each is divisible explosively by linear shaped charges extending outwardly from the center of the closed end and then extending rearwardly along the container and circumferentially at its rear end. After the container has been released from the aircraft, the charges are fired, by a time fuze or other suitable means, and the container is thereupon divided into a predetermined number of individual portions which move away from each other, releasing the enclosed submunitions to fall independently and be aerodynamically scattered, or perhaps to be lowered on individual parachutes.
In order to permit the individual container portions to separate, the ballast means has heretofore been made in the form of separate sector discs of heavy metal individually bolted to the forward end of the container at sites between the shaped charges, so that each sector is free to remain with one of the container portions after their mutual separation
It has been found, however, that the presence of these massive ballast sectors adversely influences the mutual movements of the dispenser portions after separation, and tends to impede dispersal of submunition into the airstream.